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A fitting tribute, Ulysse.
The sonnets are works I love being reminded of. I once studied them. And the academics who taught us saw them as living entities.

With the bastard son who rhymes my feed
And Shakespeare who lives in my books
Together they give me all I need
I think I have such good…fortune!

Nick wrote: "A fitting tribute, Ulysse.
The sonnets are works I love being reminded of. I once studied them. And the academics who taught us saw them as living entities."

Thanks, Nick. I really loved re-visiting the Sonnets this umpteenth time, even though there are some I will never understand, no matter how hard I try. That's ok, though, for knowing that some things are beyond my brain's capacity to understand them is part of the enjoyment of having them near me.

Fionnuala wrote: "With the bastard son who rhymes my feed
And Shakespeare who lives in my books
Together they give me all I need
I think I have such good…fortune!"

If my bastard rhymes married to that bastard Shakespeare can make you feel fortunate on this late-October day, Fionnuala, we are more than content :-)

Ulysse wrote: "Nick wrote: "A fitting tribute, Ulysse.
The sonnets are works I love being reminded of. I once studied them. And the academics who taught us saw them as living entities."

Thanks, Nick. I really lo..."

They loved a linguistic puzzle back in Bill's day. Part of the fun of composition.

Nick wrote: "They loved a linguistic puzzle back in Bill's day. Part of the fun of composition."

Indeed!

Do you have 5 hours? Try to wrap your head around this one:

Th' expense of spirit in a waste of shame
Is lust in action; and till action, lust
Is perjured, murd'rous, bloody, full of blame,
Savage, extreme, rude, cruel, not to trust,
Enjoyed no sooner but despisèd straight,
Past reason hunted; and, no sooner had
Past reason hated as a swallowed bait
On purpose laid to make the taker mad;
Mad in pursuit and in possession so,
Had, having, and in quest to have, extreme;
A bliss in proof and proved, a very woe;
Before, a joy proposed; behind, a dream.
All this the world well knows; yet none knows well
To shun the heaven that leads men to this hell.

Ulysse, Shakespeare would have been proud to read your tribute to his legacy. Wow!

Laysee wrote: "Ulysse, Shakespeare would have been proud to read your tribute to his legacy. Wow!"

Whatever Shakespeare's reaction,
Laysee, he's long gone.
But to have you praise my stuff
makes me break into song!

Hi, Ulysse; you are getting better every time;

Wonderful, Ulysse: profound and beautiful for twelve lines, then unexpected humour at the end!

Markus wrote: "Hi, Ulysse; you are getting better every time;"

I'm so glad to hear you think so, Markus, thank you!

Cecily wrote: "Wonderful, Ulysse: profound and beautiful for twelve lines, then unexpected humour at the end!"

Oh thank you Cecily, that's so very kind of you to say! It was fabulous to read these sonnets again, all 154 of them, after 20 some years. The older I get the more I love them. I must be maturing, or something.

Ouch for the last two lines. Yup he was impressive

Hamnet's long lost brother?

Ulysse wrote: "Nick wrote: "They loved a linguistic puzzle back in Bill's day. Part of the fun of composition."

Indeed!

Do you have 5 hours? Try to wrap your head around this one:

Th' expense of spirit in a wa..."

It's all about the opening lines. "Expense" is the waste of semen. The waste produced by lust is maddening, because it is not rational.
Consummation must be expressed (proved) in marriage: the legally binding necessity of marriage (where issue (children) can only be proven legally to occur). In marriage, thoughts about sex are best expressed. But not lusty. That therefore is rational because it legally produces children as heirs. To prove is to rise bread. In wordplay of the day also likely a little hint at getting the lady wife pregnant.

That is from my historical study way back when of Elizabethan times and their values. John Donne was also very good at this.

It's not that interesting a poem. Way down in my list. It was probably a poem he wrote as an appeasement. It had enough wordplay to make it interesting to poetry reading yahoos. But he would've had to talk up the values of the day to look like the right sort of guy to get patronage. He could easily be censored for being too secular or vulgar a thinker.

David wrote: "Ouch for the last two lines. Yup he was impressive"

Were the 'I' in my review really me, I'd kind of be complimenting myself in the last lines. I mean, imagine being sprung from the loins of the Bard himself, even if in a momentary lapse of reason? But the 'I' in the review isn't really me.

Ken wrote: "Hamnet's long lost brother?"

And I didn't even get his second best used-up goose quill.

Nick wrote: "It's all about the opening lines. "Expense" is the waste of semen."

Ah so it's all about wasted sperm, is it? So that's what they taught in college back in the day.

Ulysse wrote: "Nick wrote: "It's all about the opening lines. "Expense" is the waste of semen."

Ah so it's all about wasted sperm, is it? So that's what they taught in college back in the day."

Everyone got a religious education.

Nick wrote: "Everyone got a religious education."

Oh dear.

You are!👌

Jeroen wrote: "You are!👌"

Who's calling me a bastard? :-))

Ulysse has the power to write rhyme
Aiming to equal Shakespeare the poet
Perhaps with aging maturing and time
Ability, he will anon grow it

Lisa wrote: "Ulysse has the power to write rhyme
Aiming to equal Shakespeare the poet
Perhaps with aging maturing and time
Ability, he will anon grow it"

Excellent, Lisa :-)

Ulysse knows that no matter how hard
He rhymes his short life away
He will never equal the Bard
Nor marry Anne Hathaway

Ulysse wrote:

"Ulysse knows that no matter how hard
He rhymes his short life away
He will never equal the Bard
Nor marry Anne Hathaway."

Bravo!

Lisa wrote: "Ulysse wrote:

"Ulysse knows that no matter how hard
He rhymes his short life away
He will never equal the Bard
Nor marry Anne Hathaway."

Bravo!"

:-)